Those who have studied the history of ancient Tamil Nadu know well that, in those days, many women stood at the forefront of social life. Queens born into royal families were held in the highest esteem. Women born into the Chola dynasty, as well as those who had married into it, possessed property rights of their own. Each of them owned, in her own name, villages, fertile and dry lands, and herds of cattle. It is important to note how these women made use of their possessions. Many used their wealth to sponsor various religious services in temples under their own names. Lighting sacred lamps, weaving garlands for the deity, providing food for wandering ascetics and devotees of Shiva—numerous royal women endowed such charitable acts, ensuring they were inscribed in stone or copperplate grants.

While it was common practice in those days for palace women to undertake temple services, Princess Kundavai, the beloved daughter of Sundara Chola, chose to use her wealth for a different kind of charity. Perhaps it was out of compassion for her ailing father, or for some other reason, but a fervent desire arose in her heart to establish charitable hospitals throughout the land. We have already seen that an infirmary had been founded at Pazhaiyarai in the name of Emperor Parantaka. In the same manner, Kundavai Devi had made arrangements to establish a hospital in Thanjavur, bearing her father's name. On this Vijayadasami day, preparations had been made to inaugurate the hospital and to issue the necessary grants and charters.

In Purampadi, outside the Thanjavur fort, in the Garuda Mandapam opposite the Perumal temple, the inaugural ceremony of the Sundara Chola Hospital took place. Since Lord Vishnu is the presiding deity, and Garuda is the one who brought the nectar of immortality, Kundavai chose the Garuda Mandapam adjacent to the Vishnu temple as the site for the hospital’s founding. For this grand occasion, the people of Thanjavur city and the surrounding villages had gathered in countless numbers. Men, women, and children, adorned in festive garments and ornaments, thronged the place in joyous celebration. The ministers of the Chola emperor’s council, high and low officials, sculptors who inscribed the stone edicts, Viswakarma artisans who wrote the copperplate grants, and numerous palace attendants had all assembled in great numbers. The air resounded with the beating of drums and the music of... The Velakkara soldiers advanced, their drums resounding so thunderously that all eight directions seemed to tremble. The guards of the Thanjai fort came, spinning their swords and spears, making a clamor of “tanar, tanar” as they marched. The two Pazhuvettarayar brothers arrived in majestic splendor, mounted atop their elephants. Prince Madurantaka Devar, astride a white horse, struggled awkwardly, unable to sit properly, and joined the procession in discomfort. Princess Kundavai, her companions, and several elderly women of the palace came in procession, seated in their palanquins. From another direction, the ivory palanquin bearing the palm insignia of the young queen of Pazhuvoor, Nandini, arrived.

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